UPDATED 12:30 pm: Another older Canberran has lost their life to COVID-19, Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith told today’s COVID-19 briefing. This brings the number of deaths in the current outbreak to six.
The woman in her 70s was receiving end-of-life care at the Calvary Haydon aged care facility prior to contracting the virus.
“We extend our deepest sympathies and love to family and friends at this difficult time,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.
A baby in the Canberra Hospital special care unit has also been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Ms Stephen-Smith said the baby had been in the special care unit for some time but had just become symptomatic. Family members and staff are being tested and other contacts are being assessed.
The Canberra Hospital exposure team is conducting a full risk assessment for the special care nursery, including contacting all patients and families who have been recently discharged. The impacted area has been deep cleaned and closed, although not all areas of the special care nursery have been affected and parents are still able to visit babies in those sections.
Interim Canberra Health CEO Dave Peffer said that the special care nursery is one of few places where special visitation arrangements are in place so that parents can feed and provide close care to babies. At this stage, the source of transmission was unknown and is under investigation.
The ACT has recorded 28 new cases of COVID-19 and the outbreak now totals 1066 cases, including 395 currently active. Of the new cases, 19 are linked, nine are under investigation and 13 were household contacts.
Eleven people have spent their infectious period in quarantine, but five were in the community for part of that period and may present a risk of transmission to others.
There are 16 patients in hospital, of whom 11 are unvaccinated and five have received one dose of vaccine. Seven patients are in intensive care, ranging in age from their 20s to 60s and four are receiving ventilation.
“This highlights the absolute importance and value of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19,” she said.
Ms Stephen-Smith said the ACT had passed a major vaccination milestone with 95 per cent of the 12-plus population receiving their first dose and 66 per cent of the population being fully vaccinated. The rate is rising at about one per cent per day, giving the Government confidence that the 70 per cent milestone for all vaccinations will be reached in the next week.
A total of 4445 tests were conducted yesterday and the Minister said this was “a fantastic number”, providing an excellent level of surveillance across the ACT.
ACT police carried out 83 compliance checks on homes hotels and businesses yesterday, 417 drivers were stopped and one was directed to leave the Territory. Two infringement notices were issued.
UPDATED 12 pm: The ACT has recorded 28 new cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8 pm last night and one death.
The casualty is a woman in her 70s receiving end-of-life care at Calvary Haydon before contracting COVID-19. Her death is the sixth in this outbreak.
Yesterday there were 33 cases.
Nineteen of the 28 new cases are linked to known outbreaks and nine are under investigation. Thirteen are household contacts. Eleven were in quarantine for the entirety of their infectious period and at least five spent some time in the community.
There are currently 16 people in hospital with COVID: 11 are unvaccinated, five have had one dose. There are seven people in ICU and four require ventilation.
A total of 4445 tests were conducted yesterday – “a fantastic number … providing a good level of surveillance across the Territory”, according to ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith.
NSW recorded 594 cases and 10 deaths – one person in their 40s, one in their 60s, four in their 70s, two in their 80s, and two in their 90s.
Yesterday there were 608 cases and seven deaths.
Victoria recorded 1420 new cases and 11 deaths – the seventh day in a row Victoria has had more than 1000 cases.
Yesterday the state had 1763 new cases, the worst single-day spike in cases, and four deaths.
10:10 am: Suburbs with new exposure locations linked to confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the ACT include casual sites in Deakin and Phillip, and a monitor for symptoms site in Braddon. There is also a new public transport route listed as a casual exposure location. All ACT exposure sites are listed here.
Al Manoosh at 47 Mawson Place in Mawson is a casual exposure site for Saturday between 12:55 pm and 1:45 pm, as is the ALDI at Majura Park Shopping Centre at the airport for Saturday between 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm.
Also at the airport, Costco is a casual exposure site on Saturday between 1:30 pm and 2:30 pm and Ten Tops at 6/17 Iron Knob Street Fyshwick, also on Saturday between 11:45 am and 12:40 pm.
Woolworths Gungahlin is a casual exposure site on Saturday between 7:20 pm and 8:10 pm. The Woolworths Metro in Franklin is a casual site for Friday between 10:10 am and 10:50 am and has been updated to include Tuesday, 28 September, from 2:15 pm to 2:50 pm.
The new transport exposure site is Bus Route 4, BUS639 between the Cohen Street Interchange, Belconnen to Woden Interchange on Saturday from 8:07 am to 8:41 am.
The Lendlease Building 4 Construction Site in Fyshwick has been listed as a casual site on Friday between 7:10 am and 1:30 pm; Akiba in Bunda Street is a casual site for Friday between 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm; the Tuggeranong College Basketball Courts in Greenway are a casual site on Thursday between 8:00 pm and 10:30 pm.
ALDI at Cooleman Court in Weston has been listed for Wednesday from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm; Canberra Retina Clinic in Deakin for Tuesday from 2:00 pm to 4:40 pm; Amaroo District Playing Fields (Basketball Courts only) on Horse Park Drive is a casual site for Monday, 27 September from 2:40 pm to 5:00 pm.
The Woden Wellness Centre at 48 Corinna Street, Phillip is also a casual exposure site for Monday, 27 September, from 1:30 pm to 2:45 pm.
As of 9:10 am today, the drive-through COVID-19 testing site at EPIC has a wait time of 45-plus minutes; the COVID-19 Surge Centre at Garran and the Gold Creek School pop-up testing facility have minimal waits. There’s a 30-minute wait at the drive-through testing site at Kambah.
There are also a number of exposure sites in neighbouring NSW communities. You can find the full list here.